Amin Abbas

Manabu Ohashi, the legendary anime director and animator who worked on major anime projects such as: Astro Boy, Cyborg 009, Space Adventure Cobra, Ashita no Joe 2 and Treasure Island (Takarajima), Barefoot Gen and Metropolis has passed away from  heart disease on Feb. 12 at the age of 73. 

A message was shared on the late animator’s Twitter account stating how: “There were so many things he wanted to do and ideas he had, but we are sorry that the years were not long enough. Thank you for all the love and support you gave him during his life.”

大橋学が2月12日に他界しました。
やりたい事やアイデアが溢れるほどあったのですが年月が足りず、残念でなりません。
生前にはたくさんの愛情をありがとうございました。

永遠の少年・大橋学73才永眠 pic.twitter.com/44hkrOexKC

— 大橋学(MAO☆LAMDO) (@MaoCloud) February 14, 2022

Ohashi was born in Tochigi Prefecture in 1949. His most notable work was CLOUD, one of the episodes in the Robot Carnival, and OVA (1987).

His recent projects included Makoto Shinkai’s movie Children Who Chase Lost Voices (2010), Tamayura (2011), Patema Inverted (2013), and the animated segment of the 2019 NHK drama Natsuzora‘s 130th episode.

Before his passing, Ohashi shared exclusively with Arab News Japan how “when I was a boy, I was crazy about manga, but since I didn’t have much pocket money, I could only buy Shonen Gaho (Manga magazine). There are two of my favorite works from the series: Akado suzunosuke (A Little Samurai), which was made into an animation and movie, and a detective story Billy pack.”

“When I was a teenager (1962-1964), most of Japan’s entertainment was in its infancy, so I was able to develop an interest in cartoons and animation,” he said.

About the establishment of his career in the animation industry, Ohashi said: “I started working when I was 15, so I was almost a child when I got into the Toei Animation Studio! As I said before, it was the beginning of Japanese entertainment, especially film and animation, so as soon as I became interested in it, I jumped into the animation society, because there was an opening and I applied for it, and later I passed the test and the interview. It was a miracle, but I was young and didn’t really understand how grateful I was until I felt like a failure!”

His first project was Toei’s second TV movie Shonen Ninja Kaze no Fujimaru, which was in production for over a year, and allowed him to learn a lot about animation. 

About the challenges that he faced during his projects, Ohashi said: “It’s like living together with the difficulties and the joys in each project and no matter what the work is, the challenge continues. If I had to pick a challenging film, it would be Metropolis, directed by Rintaro and based on Osamu Tezuka’s novel. It was a challenging project for me.” 

Ohashi pointed out how anime today is complex in terms of the colors used and the characters, where as animations in the past were more simple and easy to understand.

Ohashi was also working as an illustrator and has had regular solo exhibitions of his illustrations in Japan up until his passing.

The late animator recommends those who want to be an animation artist or work in Japan to have courage. 

“I have the impression that many people who want to become animators are reluctant to do so, as is the case with Japanese people. If you want to be an animator, I want you to have the courage to go into the field of animation production yourself. There is a Japanese proverb that says, ‘If you do it, it will happen, if you don’t do it, it won’t happen.’ If you have the motivation and positive attitude, the way is open for you!”